Keynote-Demis Hassabis
19 Feb 2026 13:30h - 13:45h
Keynote-Demis Hassabis
Summary
The session opened with Speaker 1 honoring Indian industrialist Mukesh Ambani and introducing Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, as the keynote speaker for the AI summit. [1-4] Hassabis thanked the audience, congratulated Prime Minister Modi and the Indian government for convening the summit at a pivotal moment for artificial intelligence. [8-10] He recalled that DeepMind was founded in 2010 when almost no industry players were working on AI, and noted how the field has exploded over the past fifteen years. [12-14] Hassabis argued that AI is poised to become the most important and beneficial technology, serving as a force-multiplier for scientific discovery and human ingenuity. [15-18] He cited AlphaFold as a concrete example, explaining how the system solved the fifty-year-old protein-folding problem and opened the door to further breakthroughs. [20-21] According to Hassabis, DeepMind is now extending AI tools to material science, fusion, physics, mathematics and virtually every branch of science and medicine. [22-23] He warned that artificial general intelligence is likely to appear within the next five years, with foundational models becoming more capable each week. [24-26] Nonetheless, he emphasized humility, noting that society still lacks a full understanding of how AGI will develop and be deployed. [27-28] Hassabis expressed strong admiration for India’s AI ecosystem after visiting Bangalore, where DeepMind maintains a major research office focused on efficient models, continual learning and multilingual capabilities. [29-32] He highlighted the enthusiasm of Indian students and faculty at the Indian Institute of Science and predicted that India will become a global AI powerhouse. [33-34] He also announced a deep partnership with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance group to deliver Gemini foundation models across India. [36-38] Projecting the societal impact, Hassabis likened the advent of AGI to the discovery of fire or electricity, estimating it could be ten times the effect of the Industrial Revolution and unfold within a decade. [40-42] He concluded that a scientific, multi-disciplinary approach-bringing together technologists, scientists, governments, artists and philosophers-is essential to shape this transition, and that successful international dialogue could usher in a new golden era of discovery and health for humanity. [43-46]
Keypoints
Major discussion points
– AI as a catalyst for scientific and medical breakthroughs – DeepMind’s AlphaFold solved the 50-year protein-folding problem and the company is extending AI tools to material science, fusion, physics, mathematics and every branch of medicine, positioning AI as a “force multiplier for human ingenuity.” [20-23]
– The approaching era of artificial general intelligence (AGI) and its historic impact – AGI is expected within the next five years, with foundational models improving weekly; its societal transformation could be “10 times the impact of the Industrial Revolution” and comparable to the advent of fire or electricity, reshaping economics, productivity, and science. [24-27][40-42]
– India’s emerging role and DeepMind-Reliance partnership – The speaker praises India’s vibrant AI community, cites visits to Bangalore and IISc, and highlights deep collaborations with Indian institutions and Reliance’s Gemini foundation models to “bring intelligence to everyone in India.” [29-35][36-38]
– Need for responsible, multidisciplinary governance of AI – Emphasizes humility, scientific-method-driven guardrails, and monitoring systems, while urging inclusion of governments, artists, social scientists, and philosophers to shape AI’s deployment for global benefit. [27-28][43-46]
Overall purpose / goal
The discussion aims to celebrate the AI summit and India’s growing AI leadership, showcase DeepMind’s scientific contributions, warn of the imminent arrival of AGI, and call for coordinated, responsible, and inclusive international collaboration to harness AI’s transformative potential while safeguarding societal interests.
Overall tone
The tone begins celebratory and enthusiastic, highlighting achievements and future possibilities ([8-15]). It then shifts to a more measured, awe-inspired optimism about AGI’s impact ([24-27][40-42]), followed by a sober, cautionary note emphasizing humility and the need for safeguards ([27-28][43-46]). The conversation concludes on a hopeful, collaborative note, urging global dialogue and multidisciplinary engagement to steer the coming AI era toward a “golden era of scientific discovery.” [44-46]
Speakers
– Demis Hassabis – Co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind; artificial intelligence researcher, neuroscientist, game designer, chess prodigy; referred to as a Nobel laureate in the introduction. [S1]
– Speaker 1 – Event moderator/host who introduced Mr. Ambani and Demis Hassabis. No specific expertise or title mentioned. [S3]
Additional speakers:
– (none)
The ceremony opened with Speaker 1 praising Indian industrialist Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani for his confidence in India’s technological potential and for leading the nation’s AI revolution, before inviting the summit’s keynote, Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of DeepMind, to the stage [1-4].
Hassabis began by thanking the diverse audience of industry, academia and government representatives, congratulating Prime Minister Modi and the Indian administration for convening the summit at a critical moment for artificial intelligence, and recalling that the series of meetings originated with a gathering at Bletchley Park under Prime Minister Sunak, which has since become a pivotal forum for international AI dialogue [8-12].
He reflected on DeepMind’s origins in 2010, noting that at the time almost no commercial entities were working on AI and that the venture began as a “dream”. Over the subsequent fifteen years the field has moved from those modest beginnings to a global conversation, reinforcing his long-standing belief that AI will become one of the most important and beneficial technologies ever created [12-15].
Hassabis described his lifelong fascination with the classic Greek questions of science-namely the nature of reality and consciousness-calling them deep mysteries of the universe [15-16]. He argued that AI serves as a “force multiplier for human ingenuity”, positioning it as the ultimate tool to accelerate scientific discovery across all domains.
He cited AlphaFold, DeepMind’s system that solved the fifty-year-old protein-folding problem, as concrete proof that AI can deliver transformative scientific breakthroughs, and noted that DeepMind is now extending AI tools to material science, fusion research, physics, mathematics and virtually every branch of medicine [15-23].
Looking ahead, Hassabis warned that artificial general intelligence (AGI) is likely to appear within the next five years, with foundational models gaining capability “almost week by week”. He described this as a threshold moment comparable to the discovery of fire or electricity, estimating that the societal change could be roughly ten times the impact of the Industrial Revolution and at about ten times the speed of change-likely unfolding over a decade rather than a century. This rapid acceleration presents unprecedented economic, productivity, and scientific opportunities [24-27][40-42].
Acknowledging the uncertainty surrounding AGI’s development and deployment, he called for humility and a scientific-method approach to build robust guardrails and monitoring systems. He stressed that understanding the capabilities of emerging systems is essential before they are released widely, and that safety research must proceed in parallel with the pursuit of scientific and medical advances [27-28][43-46].
During his recent visit to Bangalore, Hassabis highlighted DeepMind’s large office there, where critical research is conducted that is fed into DeepMind’s products and technologies worldwide, focusing on efficient models, continual learning and multilingual capabilities [13-14].
He also mentioned that he had time to give a talk at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, praising the enthusiasm of its students and faculty [15]. In the same breath he noted “many Google partnerships” announced by Sundar Pichai, underscoring the breadth of collaboration between Google and India [20-21].
Hassabis emphasized a deep partnership with Mr Ambani’s Reliance Geo group to deliver the Gemini foundation models across India, signalling a concrete step toward “bringing intelligence to everyone in India” [29-38].
He argued that the challenges of AGI cannot be left to technologists alone and advocated for a multidisciplinary governance framework that incorporates technologists, scientists, governments, artists, social scientists and philosophers, insisting that such inclusive international dialogue is vital to shape the deployment of AI for the benefit of all citizens [44-46].
In closing, Sir Demis Hassabis reiterated his optimism that, if the global community navigates this transition thoughtfully-by establishing scientific safeguards, fostering broad stakeholder participation and leveraging AI’s catalytic power-humanity can usher in a new golden era of scientific discovery and improved health worldwide [45-46].
much, Mr. Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani for your strong belief in India’s capabilities and also for being at the forefront of India’s AI revolution. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s have a big round of applause for Mr. Ambani. And now I would like to invite Sir Damis Hassabis. He is the founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, the co -founder of Google DeepMind, and well, he is also the Nobel laureate, a chess prodigy, neuroscientist, and game designer before he became one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence researchers. Sir Damis Hassabis brings an almost uniquely cross -disciplinary mind to the challenge of building artificial general intelligence. DeepMind’s AlphaFold solved a 50 -year -old problem in biology, and he’s, well, just getting started.
Please welcome the co -founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, Sir Hesibus.
Thank you. It’s a huge honor to be here today with so many of my esteemed colleagues from industry, academia, and government. And congratulations to Prime Minister Modi and the Indian government on convening such an impressive summit at this very pivotal moment for AI. It’s fantastic to see how the summit has evolved over the years, with the first meeting convened by Prime Minister Sunak at Bletchley Park in the UK. It’s become an incredibly important convening point for international dialogue and hopefully cooperation in the future over the future of AI. Thank you. When we started DeepMind in 2010, almost nobody was working on AI in industry. It was just a dream. And it’s been incredible to see how in the last 15 years, where we’ve come from the beginnings, those humble beginnings, to now where we are today, where the whole world is talking about AI.
The reason I’ve spent my whole career working on AI is I always believed it would be one of the most important and beneficial technologies ever invented. And for me, my passion is to advance scientific discovery. And I always felt that AI would be the ultimate tool for accelerating scientific discovery and being a force multiplier for human ingenuity. From a very young age, I’ve been obsessed with the Greek questions of science, the nature of reality, the nature of consciousness, these deep mysteries that are in the universe. And I think AI can help us find answers to these questions that we’ve pondered over for thousands of years. We’re already starting to see the beginnings of this, with systems like AlphaFold.
that we built to solve the 50 -year grand challenge of protein folding. And we hope that this will just be the first example of amazing advances in science and medicine that have been enabled by AI. And we and others are working on many other branches of science now to bring AI tools to help advance material science, fusion, physics, and mathematics. In fact, almost every branch of science and medicine can be impacted by AI. And now in 2026, we’re another threshold moment where AGI, artificial general intelligence, is on the horizon, maybe within the next five years. And we’re seeing these general purpose systems, foundational model systems, becoming increasingly capable almost week by week. So this is obviously an amazing opportunity that we should all grasp, economic and productivity, as well as in the sciences.
But it’s also something that we have to approach with humility and understanding. And understanding that we don’t have all the answers yet as to how this technology is going to develop and to be deployed into the world. I’ve been really impressed with what I’ve seen in India. I spent some time prior to the summit in Bangalore. We have a really big office there, Google and DeepMind, a great research office, where we do some really critical research that we then bring to our products and our technologies around the world in areas like efficient models, continual learning and multilingual capabilities. I also had time to give a talk at the Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore, and I was incredibly impressed by the students and the faculty there, their enthusiasm and their energy for AI and their ideas for how to use AI to improve India standing in the world and to also seize all the new economic opportunities and scientific opportunities that AI opens up.
It was incredibly impressive to see the energy around. And I think that India will indeed be a powerhouse for AI across the globe. We have many partnerships. Sundar, you heard Sundar announce many Google partnerships that we have with India. I’m especially proud of our deep partnership with Mr. Ambani and the Reliance Geo group to bring intelligence to everyone in India with our Gemini Foundation models in partnership with Reliance. So we hope to build on that in the next few years. So if I was to try and quantify what’s coming down the line with the advent of AGI, I think it’s going to be one of the most momentous periods in human history. Probably something more like the advent of fire or electricity.
One way maybe we can quantify that is I think it’s going to be something like 10 times the impact of the Industrial Revolution, but happening at 10 times the speed, probably unfolding in a matter of a decade rather than a century. So really, this enormous amount of change is going to come. And it’s still to be written how we can make that beneficial for the whole world. and I think the main way we should try to do this is by taking a scientific approach using the scientific method to understand what the capabilities of these systems are to build good guardrails and monitoring systems to understand more deeply what these systems are capable of and how we can make sure that they serve the purposes that we want and then of course simultaneously we also have to be bold to grasp these new opportunities to advance science and medicine and to improve human health and the human condition that society and the globe badly needs so I think we’ve got to try and navigate this moment very carefully very thoughtfully and if we do so I’m very optimistic that will usher in a great new era and but of course this can’t just be left to technologists and that’s why summits like this are really important to bring together all parts of society the technologists that are building it the scientists that are building it the scientists that are building it the scientists that are building it governments and how to deploy it for the best use of their citizens, but also artists, social scientists, and philosophers.
We need to bring all of these debates into the tent to understand how we should navigate this next period in human history. And I think summits like this, international summits like this, are critical to encourage this kind of international dialogue and cooperation. And if we get this right, these next steps right, I think we can usher in a new golden era of scientific discovery and improve the lives and health of everyone in the world. Thank you.
“Speaker 1 praised Indian industrialist Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani for his confidence in India’s technological potential and for leading the nation’s AI revolution.”
The knowledge base lists Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani as a keynote speaker and identifies him as an Indian industrialist, providing background on his role but not the specific praise given in the report [S16].
“Hassabis thanked the diverse audience, congratulated Prime Minister Modi and the Indian administration for convening the summit at a critical moment for artificial intelligence.”
Multiple sources record Hassabis’s congratulations to Prime Minister Modi and acknowledgment of the Indian government’s role in the AI summit [S32] and [S7].
“He cited AlphaFold, DeepMind’s system that solved the fifty‑year‑old protein‑folding problem, as concrete proof that AI can deliver transformative scientific breakthroughs.”
AlphaFold is documented as having solved the decades-old protein-folding challenge, confirming the claim about its significance [S13] and [S14].
“Hassabis warned that artificial general intelligence (AGI) is likely to appear within the next five years.”
Hassabis has publicly predicted that AGI could emerge within the next 5 to 10 years, giving a broader timeframe than the five-year window stated in the report [S23].
“He emphasized the need for humility and a scientific‑method approach to build robust guardrails and monitoring systems for AI safety.”
The speaker’s call for humility and a cautious, scientific approach to AI development is echoed in the knowledge base, which stresses humility and scepticism when dealing with emerging AI technologies [S1] and [S42].
The transcript shows strong alignment between the opening remarks and Hassabis’s keynote. Both emphasize India’s AI potential and the need for international, multidisciplinary dialogue. No substantive contradictions or opposing viewpoints appear in the material provided.
Minimal – the speakers are largely in consensus, which suggests a collaborative tone for the summit and reinforces a unified message about leveraging AI for scientific, economic, and societal benefit.
The speech’s most influential moments stem from a sequence of interlocking ideas: first, positioning AI as a scientific accelerator; then grounding that claim with AlphaFold’s breakthrough; followed by a stark timeline and magnitude claim for AGI that injects urgency; and finally, a balanced call for humility, safety research, and inclusive governance. Each of these comments not only introduced new dimensions to the conversation but also acted as turning points—shifting the tone from optimism to urgency, from abstract potential to concrete evidence, and from technocratic focus to interdisciplinary responsibility. The cumulative effect was to transform a ceremonial address into a catalyst for deeper, multi‑stakeholder dialogue about how to harness an imminent, transformative technology while managing its risks.
Disclaimer: This is not an official session record. DiploAI generates these resources from audiovisual recordings, and they are presented as-is, including potential errors. Due to logistical challenges, such as discrepancies in audio/video or transcripts, names may be misspelled. We strive for accuracy to the best of our ability.
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